28-September-2024
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

Photo: Pam K.

Brendan Hynes reports on Night 2 in Brighton

Van Morrison at Brighton Dome, 28th September 2024. 

The second album launch show followed a similar pattern to the first night with select members of Van Morrison's band doing a short support set featuring Jolene O'Hara on two of the numbers namely You Are Mine At Last and I Just Want To Make Love To You which again got a great audience reaction. 

Van Morrison's own set didn't deviate too much from that of the first night. Only A Dream featured a fine extended saxophone solo from Van while the song ended with Van exclaiming "No Prima Donna" and "All Change" over and over towards the song conclusion with the backing vocalists also joining in nicely. So Quiet In Here was really powerful and got a great audience reaction as Van mouthed the words  "Can You Feel The Silence" over and over at the song's conclusion. 

Chris Farlowe guested once more starting with Ain't Gonna Moan No More which featured another fine long saxophone solo by Van. Stormy Monday was merged with Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket and Lonely Avenue in what turned into a blues masterclass with the band in full flow throughout. The roar from the audience when it ended nearly blew the roof off the Dome! 

Someone Like You was delivered spectacularly by Van who was aided in no small measure by the really nice vocal contribution of Sumudu. The song concluded with Van repeating "You" "You" over and over to great effect. It was a wonderful version. 

Laughin' And Clownin' featured superb solos from Chris White on saxophone and Guy Barker on trumpet while Sumudu's powerful vocal contribution was accompanied by Van singing the words "Night and Day" over and over in response. It was great. 

Jackie Wilson Said benefitted hugely from the large brass ensemble on stage while Broken Record featured some scatting from Sumudu and Chris Farlowe which clearly met with Van' s approval as he repeatedly said "That's Right" over and over in acknowledgement. Green Rocky Road brought the show into skiffle territory and was followed by Worried Man Blues which was merged with Down By The Riverside. The latter song saw Van unfortunately and repeatedly bellow "G" "G" at band members throughout as he was clearly dissatisfied with the key in which they were playing it. While Van told the audience at the songs conclusion that they had got there in the end it wasn't exactly conducive to enhancing anyone's enjoyment of the song's performance!. 

The concluding Gloria brought the show to more familiar closing territory with Dave Keary producing some fine guitar work and an exceptional extended trombone solo by Alistair White being particular highlights of the selected band solos performed. 

As on the first night the overall impact of the large band assembled for these album launch shows was huge and it would be nice to see a repeat at some stage in the future. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Brendan Hynes)

Choppin' Wood 

Only A Dream 

You Gotta Make It Through The World 

I Want a Roof Over My Head 

So Quiet In Here 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Stormy Monday/Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket/Lonely Avenue (w/Chris Farlowe)

Close Enough For Jazz (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Steal My Heart Away (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Symphony Sid

Someone Like You 

Laughin' & Clownin' 

Jackie Wilson Said 

Broken Record (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Green Rocky Road (w/Chris Farlowe)

Worried Man Blues/Down By The Riverside (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Gloria (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Set length 1h 45m

27-September-2024
Brighton Dome
 Brighton, England

Brendan Hynes was at Night 1 in Brighton & shares his thoughts 

Van Morrison at Brighton Dome, 27th September 2024. 

The first of the two shows to launch Van Morrison's latest album, New Arrangements and Duets, began with a short support set from members of Van Morrison's band and featured a couple of instrumental numbers including Green Onions (featuring the returning Paul Moran on keyboards) before backing vocalist Jolene O' Hara sang a couple of songs including a powerful rendition of I Just Want To Make Love To You which got a great response from the audience. 

The first thing to strike me as Van Morrison's full band took the stage was the sheer size of the ensemble including multiple saxophone players, trumpet players and trombonist and two backing vocalists in Sumudu and the aforementioned Jolene O' Hara. The stage was hardly large enough to accommodate them all and it was somewhat reminiscent of the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in full flight and all the better for it. The musicianship and big band arrangements were quite magnificent and more than did justice to Van' s compositions. As was to be expected the show relied largely on songs from the new album with Only A Dream, Someone Like You, Steal My Heart Away and Beauty of Days Gone By being particularly memorable. Chris Farlowe joined Van to duet on several numbers including the old reliable Stormy Monday. On this occasion however Chris had his thunder stolen somewhat by Sumudu who produced such a stunning vocal that Van got her to repeat it before joining with her to bring the song to a thunderous conclusion that brought the house down. It was simply magnificent! It was very pleasing to see the return of former band stalwarts such as Chris and Alister White, Matt Holland and Paul Moran who all performed superbly while the guesting Guy Barker was quite scintillating and Van couldn't hide his delight with his numerous musical interventions. Indeed both Van and the entire band seemed to be feeding off one another's energy and the sense of enjoyment and exuberance on stage was palpable. 

The show's closing number, Flip Flop and Fly featured numerous excellent solos from the band members and backing vocalists following Van's departure and got a great audience reaction. One slight disappointment for me was that The Master's Eyes which features on the new album was not performed on the night as I had anticipated it would but perhaps it will feature at the second show on Saturday night.

As album launch shows go this was a really memorable one and the extended band really added another dimension to proceedings. 

-Brendan Hynes

Setlist (Thanks Brendan Hynes)

Choppin Wood 

Only A Dream 

You Gotta Make It Through The World 

Roof Over My Head 

So Quiet In Here 

Ain't Gonna Moan No More (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Close Enough For Jazz (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Steal My Heart Away (w/ Chris Farlowe) 

Someone Like You 

Beauty Of Days Gone By 

Green Rocky Road 

You Are My Sunshine 

When Will I Be Loved 

Stormy Monday (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Early In The Morning (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Broken Record (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Jackie Wilson Said (w/Chris Farlowe) 

Worried Man Blues/This Loving Light Of Mine (w/Chris Farlowe)  

Flip Flop and Fly(w/Chris Farlowe)  

Set length 1h 47m